Monthly Archives: November 2015

Craft Ideas with Textiles

The use of textiles plays an important part in all our the crafting projects we do at Colouricious. We have decorated textiles with patterns and designs since the beginning of time and in essence the methods we use today have changed very little from how they were first done.

Colouricious has lots of creative ideas on how to use textiles in your crafting projects and we have multiple videos and guides to show you exactly how to make each project. You can watch a number of the videos showing how you can make anything from paper from your old jeans to felt flowers on our Craft Ideas with Textiles page on our website.
Colouricious is so passionate about textiles and textile art that we have a range of DVDs covering lots of different textile techniques and skills. The DVDs will help you to learn and understand how to start creating your own projects. Each one is broken into easy to follow indexed chapters that you can watch and re-watch at your leisure. If you are just starting off in Textile Crafting then we have each DVD individually on sale on our website.

Last Call for Jaipur!

We have 3 spaces left on our wonderful trip to Jaipur that leaves in 11 days! If you take spur of the moment decisions or would like to give yourself an early Christmas present, or perhaps you have a crafting friend or relation that you would just like to treat, then get in contact with us straightaway and reserve one of these last three spaces.

The trip to Jaipur is probably one of our most popular holidays to India, as it gives everybody on the trip the opportunity to get involved in a number of different block printing groups and workshops. This is the essence of what Colouricious is about and is why I enjoy this holiday so much. I am sure that we are all going to have a great time on the trip, so if you want to grab a last minute ticket to join us then we would love to hear from you. You will not be disappointed.

Click on the video above to read all about the holiday to Jaipur and to watch how these wonderful wooden blocks are made.

Ideas for Christmas

Bird Wood Stamps

Our Bird blocks are always very popular as they are versatile and can be easily used on clothing as well as gift cards and presents. The block set above is called Two’s Company and is our Block of the Month for November. If you are interested in this set you can buy it here. If you just want to look at all of our Bird related blocks and plenty of other bits and pieces, then head over to our Bird Wood Stamps page and find the set that you like the most.

kind regards
Jamie MaldenColouricious
PS We have a favour to ask of you ……
when you watch one of our you tube videos actually on the you tube site, and you have enjoyed it, please can you click on the thumbs up! Thank you!

Be the first to be in the know. Get more of what you love!

Subscribe to our youtube channel to automatically receive notifications of when we upload new textile art ideas.

As the name implies, bead embroidery is the craft that involves adding beads as an embellishment to a fabric or material. The beads do not form a critical part of the structure of the project so you can be extra creative when the beads are sewn on. There are three fundamental methods of embroidering beads onto fabric:

Individual – Beads are sewn on separately giving you very detailed control over the design you are creating.

Multiple – Several beads are threaded onto the needle at once and then the line of beads is sewn onto the fabric. This enables the crafter to beads onto the fabric quickly and is an excellent way to build up the start f your design.

Bead Strips – Lines of pre-threaded beads are laid onto the fabric and then stitched into place. This enables the crafter to quickly get a lot of beads onto a piece of fabric, but a design will be limited to the strips of beads that are available.

The craft of bead embroidery is practised all over the world and each technique has different names dependent upon where in the world it is done. In Europe techniques are known as Tambour and Luneville and are commonly used to embroider beads onto high quality dresses and accessories. In India bead embroidery is called Zari and Aari and can be identified by the beads being attached to the top of the fabric and a chain stitch is used to affix each bead to the fabric. To get the best results if you want to give bead embroidery a try, make sure the fabric is tightly stretched over a frame which will give you a good, tight, level surface for you to work on. It will also leave you with both hands free for embroidering, which can be helpful as the beads are small and the design soften very intricate.

Colouricious has a wonderful video about bead embroidering featuring Eliza McClelland who is an talented experienced British beader. You can learn some beading from her video below.To book Eliza to teach your group, you can contact her via her email address which is elizamcc@gmail.com

Bead embroidery is an excellent way to embellish block printed fabrics, highlighting the patterns and designs on the fabrics and making your designs stand out. You can see all of our printing blocks on our website.
We have had hours of creative fun block printing fabrics and then sewing beads onto the designs to embellish them. Very satisfying with gorgeous results. Choose your blocks from our ever expanding biggest selection in the universe!

Come to Kashmir

We are delighted that we have been able to organise a super trip to explore the traditional crafts of India in Kashmir. This is a fully escorted 13 day trip where we will explore the textile heritage of Kashmir as well as world famous the Hemis Festival.
The Hemis Monastery celebrates this event in the form of a 2-day festival. Its resident Lamas perform sacred masked dances leading to the destruction of the sacrificial offerings. Masks worn by the lamas represent various guardian divinities of the Dugpa order, of which Hemis is the leading establishment in Ladakh.
This 200 year-old tradition was introduced by a member of Ladakh’s ruling family who was reincarnated in the 18th century as the monastery’s Head Lama, “Sras Rimpoche”. The Hemis dances are a re-enactment of the magical feasts of Padmasambhava, in his services to the cause of Buddhism in his eight different manifestations.

During the tour you will get to see the crafts that have made Kahmir famous; carpet making and shawl making.
The Kashmir carpet industry is famous the world over. Kashmiri carpets are loved not only by the people of India but also by people in other countries. It is believed that the art of weaving Kashmiri carpets originated in Persia. Usually either silk or wool is used in making carpets. Sometimes a combination of silk and wool is used. Mercerized cotton is also sometimes used in making carpets. Mercerized cotton is a man-made fibre with sheen similar to that of silk. It is costlier than wool, but it is cheaper as compared to silk.
The base of these carpets is either made of cotton or silk. The ‘tree of life’ is a design that is very commonly found on Kashmiri carpets. Though the carpets made in Kashmir are expensive on account of their uniqueness and exquisite weaving, they are considered to be an investment.

Like Kashmiri carpets, shawls made in Kashmir are adored both in India and internationally. The Shahtoosh and Pashmina shawls made in Kashmir are world famous.
Shahtoosh shawls are made from the wool of the Tibetan antelope. These shawls are very light and soft. These shawls are extremely expensive because the wool used in making these shawls is scarce. The soft hair from the throat of the antelope is used for making these shawls. A few of these hairs fall off naturally when the antelopes graze. These hairs are collected and are then used in weaving shawls. Shahtoosh shawls may either be pure or mixed with Pashmina in order to reduce the cost. Shahtoosh shawls are so finely woven that the entire shawl can pass through a ring. It is for this reason that such shawls are known as ‘Ring shawls’. These shawls are usually not dyed and are used in their natural color i.e. light brown.
Pashmina shawls are made from the wool of the Kel sheep found in the Himalayan mountains. Such shawls are extremely soft and do not hurt the skin of the wearer. Pashmina scarves and stoles are also made. Pashmina shawls are less expensive as compared to Shahtoosh shawls.
Pashmina shawls usually have beautiful and heavy embroidery on them, while Shahtoosh shawls do not.
There is so much more we could tell you about this super trip to Kashmir. We have an outline schedule on our website, but if you want all of the details, then just fill in the form on the schedule tab of the holiday and you will be able to download a full itinerary showing you all of the hotels and places we will be visiting.
If this trip is of interest to you, go to the Kashmir Tour page and reserve your place now. We have just launched the holiday,but I am sure spaces will fill very quickly.

Alphabet Stamps

Our alphabet stamps give you the perfect opportunity to personalise all your gifts and cards. We have several different designs of fonts as well as some blocks of ancient styled text that will be beautiful as a background image on a paper design.
Take a good look at the alphabet stamps we have here.

Ideal Christmas Gifts

With Christmas fast approaching we have some great dieas that would make perfect presents for your crafting friends and family. Just click on any of the imides to be taken straight to our website

kind regards
Jamie MaldenColouricious
PS We have a favour to ask of you ……
when you watch one of our you tube videos actually on the you tube site, and you have enjoyed it, please can you click on the thumbs up! Thank you!

Be the first to be in the know. Get more of what you love!

Subscribe to our youtube channel to automatically receive notifications of when we upload new textile art ideas.

Let’s do some Tie Dye

Bandhani Tie Dye is a craft practiced mainly in Rajasthan and Gujarat in India. It is an intricate process requiring a lot of skill and dexterity to tie the small knots in the correct places to create the detailed patterns. The name Bandhani comes from the Sanskrit word banda which means “to tie”.

The knots are tied in detailed patterns to create squares, waves and strips. It is possible that a piece of Bandhani Tie Dye material can have well over 1,000 knots. As with a lot of crafts the patterns and colours used all have meaning to the regions that have created the design. In Rajasthan for example red is often used to represent a bride and yellow a mother. As with a lot of Indian crafts, the colours used in Bandhani Tie Dye are mainly natural and they tend to be darker colours.

Colouricious has some excellent samples of Bandhani Tie Dye as well as some very informative videos showing how you can dye your own fabrics ready for block printing.

Learn how to dye fabric with Myfanwy Hart and then Julia Phillips in these two videos

Colouricious You Tube Channel – did you know we have created a whole channel of free inspirational videos on You Tube?! When you have time, sit and watch all the videos you wish, to be inspired by leading British textile artists who are great teachers, showing you new textile techniques to help you with your own textile projects.

Have a look at the entire selection of the most magical wonderiferous Colouricious wooden printing blocks waiting to ignite your personal creativity.

Christmas Super Duper Box
This is a fabulous box set of Christmas wooden printing blocks waiting for you! Have a look at the wide selection of large and small wood stamps, from trees to stars to reindeers – so many designs for you to create your own Christmas projects

Hand Printing Christmas set
Christmas super super box plus metallic paint set for fabric and paper. Normal price is £80 but reduced for our Colouricious Club members (you!) to £60.

Animal Print Blocks

This is a new section for our newsletter where we highlight a category of our blocks we have on our website that we hope will be of interest for you.

Our Animal section is full of beautiful blocks ranging from Elephants to Geckos, from Butterflies to Camels. There is without doubt an animal block suitable for everybody and they would be the perfect adornment to a personalised T-Shirt or Smock.

Take a look at the Animal Blocks section on our website and find your favourite animal.

Come with us on a Treasure Hunt

3 places left! In March 2016 we are off for a Textile Treasure Hunt across Northern India. This is a 15 day trip hosted by me and Isha Sharma. We will be flying to Delhi and then exploring the North of the country watching villagers at work as well as some wonderful markets. We will spend time in Jaipur where we will spend time in a local bazaar which will have plenty of Bandhani materials for sale. Half way through the trip we will be in Agra to see the wondrous Taj Mahal. No pictures of the Taj Mahal can do it justice, it just has to be seen to be believed.

This trip has proved to be extremely popular and as you read this newsletter we only have space for three more people to join us.

If you are interested in exploring Northern India with us on this beautiful trip, then I would encourage you to go to our website and fill in the booking form to reserve your place.

Next Show

On Thursday 12th – 15th November we will be in Dublin at Simmonscourt for the next exhibition in the Knitting and Stitching Show. We are on stand K46, so if you are coming, make sure you pop to the stand and say hello. We love Dublin and are so looking forward to our time in with you!

Our Fantastic Deals

Learn, Create, Be Happy!

kind regards
Jamie MaldenColouricious
PS We have a favour to ask of you ……
when you watch one of our you tube videos actually on the you tube site, and you have enjoyed it, please can you click on the thumbs up! Thank you!

Be the first to be in the know. Get more of what you love!

Subscribe to our youtube channel to automatically receive notifications of when we upload new textile art ideas.

Use applique in your next project

Appliqué (or “applied” when translated from French) is the art of affixing one item onto another to create a finished product. It is extensively used in textile arts to create decoration and depth to any craft product. It is also extensively used to renovate and revitalise old items of clothing into modern new pieces.
The item applied can be another piece of fabric or multiple pieces of fabric to achieve your goal. The fabric is normally folded in to create a nice clean edge, but there are plenty of creations that used the “frayed edge” of an appliquéd piece of fabric as part of the design so really there are no fixed rules on how to achieve the best results.
Individuals who make quilts use the appliqué method a lot as the technique lends itself to the square repetitive patterns that you often see on quilts. You will also see a lot of appliqué designs in products and crafts that are made in India and the sub-continent.
Colouricious have several videos that show how to create beautiful appliqué designs and you can visit our Appliqué textile technique page to watch and follow them.

If you would like to explore how to integrate appliqué techniques into your next craft product, then the Colouricious range of DVDs has a number of projects that would be ideal for Appliqué. The Recycled Reborn DVD is a perfect example showing how the creative use of appliqué can transform old clothes and fabrics into new modern designs. You can watch excerpts of the DVD and then make a purchase if you wish.

Everybody has an Angel

With the festive season soon upon us, what better way to decorate and personalise your gifts and cards than with an Angel. We have a beautiful set of 6 angels that will be perfect for you to use on gifts and cards for people of any age. From children through to grandparents there is an angel in this pack for them. It is excellent value at £35 and you can buy the set by visiting our website.

We have plenty of other sets of blocks that are suitable for Christmas and the season in our Latest Arrivals section, so why not take a look now and see what you can find.

Stitch Tour of Southern India

No sooner than we have seen in 2016 then we are off on a wonderful trip to Southern India and Kerala. In South India, textiles are considered to be one of the highest form of art and spiritual expression. The knowledge and skills required to create these textiles have been passed down through generations. This tour provides opportunity to explore and experience various kind of textile weaving and handicrafts. You will also have the chance to see magnificent temples, house boats, backwaters, villages to experience rural life, and know more about South Indian friendly and ever smiling people, their traditions and way of life and explore the scenic beauty of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

This is a 17 day tour and we will be visiting loads of different places watching workshops and villagers show off their skills at textile art.

This is an exciting trip as we are venturing to places we have never been to before. If this trip is of interest to you, then we have a few places available, so please head over to our website and reserve your place by filling in our booking form.

Next Quilt Show

Colouricious is off to Dublin!

From 12th – 15th November I will be at The Knitting & Stitching Show held at Simmonscourt, RDS, Dublin. I am really looking forward to the show and I am sure there will be loads of Colouricious Club members popping in to say hello. I will be at stand K46, so if you are going to the show please come over and say hello, I would love to see you.

Learn, Create, Be Happy!

kind regards
Jamie MaldenColouricious
PS We have a favour to ask of you ……
when you watch one of our you tube videos actually on the you tube site, and you have enjoyed it, please can you click on the thumbs up! Thank you!

Be the first to be in the know. Get more of what you love!

Subscribe to our youtube channel to automatically receive notifications of when we upload new textile art ideas.

Contact Us

Colouricious Shop

Colouricious accept payment by all methods through PayPal.
We can and do deliver all over the world. Please see each product for the different delivery services and costs available.
Gift Cards are available and are the perfect gift for Crafters worldwide.